One of the most exciting days of the football season is merely a month and a half away; the 2019 NFL Draft! We’ve hit the time of year where we see the frenzy of Mock Drafts put out by all the sports analysts from the major news and sports outlets, as well as, from all the crazy people like me who dive deep into articles and press our faces to our computer screens and write these blogs! With the draft looming the Detroit Lions have several holes they need to fill on their roster: Defensive End, Tight End, Linebacker, Cornerback, and Wide Receiver. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some positions that are a more important need than the others, however, I believe that those are all positions the team needs to address in both the Draft and Free Agency.
In the frenzy of Mock Drafts, we’ve seen several players mocked to the Detroit Lions with the No. 8 overall selection. Some of the players include:
Josh Allen, EDGE, Kentucky: Mocked by Jeff Risdon of LionsWire
Greedy Williams, CB, LSU: Mocked by Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports
Montez Sweat, EDGE, Mississippi State: Mocked by Peter Schrager of NFL
Rashon Gary, DL, Michigan: Mocked by Todd McShay of ESPN
A majority of the major outlet analysts have the Lions selecting a defensive player. I was surprised after all the talk after Mel Kiper’s first Mock Draft of TJ Hockenson, that no one that I looked at had the Lions choosing an offensive player to help get Stafford more weapons, as GM Bob Quinn has told us he needs to do a better job at.
After looking at the roster and what has already been mocked to the Detroit Lions, here are five (5), in no particular order, players that could possibly be drafted with the No. 8 overall pick:
Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma: Yes, Kyler Murray, albeit a pipe dream there is a possibility that one of the top 2 quarterbacks in the draft slips to No. 8. Between Murray and Hoskins it is my belief that Murray would be the one to fall, strictly due to his size. Murray has soared to the top of many draft boards as the No. 1 overall pick due to trade rumors about the Cardinals sending Josh Rosen to the Washington Redskins. Those rumors have recently disappeared though with the Redskins acquiring Case Keenum from the Denver Broncos. The only teams that absolutely need to draft a quarterback ahead of the Lions are Jaguars and Giants. I feel like the Giants will stick with Eli and draft an offensive lineman instead leaving one of the top quarterbacks available for the Lions at No. 8. If the Lions were to do this I might die of excitement because it finally means they’re ready to move on from Matthew Stafford and could play it in a similar manner to the Kansas City Chiefs when they drafted Patrick Mahomes and had him sit behind Alex Smith for a year.
D.K Metcalf, Wide Receiver, Ole Miss: The big wideout measured in a 6’3’’ 228lbs at the 2019 Combine and put up a freak performance. Metcalf ran blazing 4.33 40-yard dash, benched 225lbs 27 times and put in a top-5 performance in the vertical jump with 40.5 inches. There is a high possibility that he is the first wide receiver off the board in the 2019 Draft. Metcalf makes sense for Detroit because they traded away Stafford’s safety blanket in Golden Tate last season and there have been rumors circulating that Marvin Jones may be traded away before the season starts. Stafford needs another weapon to throw to on the outside.
Montez Sweat, EDGE, Mississippi State: The Lions are going to need to add another edge rusher with the likely departure of Ziggy Ansah to Free Agency. Sweat would be a nice fit opposite of the duo of the situation Da’Shawn Hand and Romeo Okwara with Damon “Snacks” Harrison plugging up the middle. Sweat had an impressive final two seasons of college collecting 98 total tackles while sacking opposing quarterbacks 19 times as well. An addition like Sweat to the Lions offense could give offensive coordinators nightmares while they try to gameplan for a defensive front like that.
Devin White, LB, LSU: While the linebacker position is not a glaring need in comparison to others, it wouldn’t hurt if Bob Quinn decided to upgrade the position with the No. 8 overall pick and give Jarrod Davis some help in the middle of the defense. In a recent article by Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, White was asked about being paired with Davis:
“I watched him a lot in college. Man, he played through injury, he did everything for the Florida Gators. Man, I was a big fan…letting us roam that middle at the same (time), that’s another great linebacker with an up-and-coming great linebacker, so I feel like we’ll play exceptionally well, too.”
There have been multiple scouting reports that have indicated White is quick learner, quick gap blitzer, able to cover both running backs and tight ends, and is always around the ball during the play. The NFL has given him a Prospect Grade of 6.20 which on their scale means that he is likely to become an instant starter on whatever team he is drafted to.
TJ Hockenson, Iowa, Tight End: I know it is painful to think about the Lions putting yet another top 10 pick into the tight end position, but since the release of Eric Ebron there has been no real tight end in Detroit. Hockenson put together a good performance at the NFL Combine and seems to do everything exceptionally well from catching the ball to blocking in the run game. The big tight end found himself ranked in the top 10 when it came to receptions, touchdowns and receiving yards at the end of the 2018 NCAA Football season. If the Lions were to draft Hockenson in the first round he would help in both the offensive pass attack as well as in the run schemes; he would become an all-around offensive tight end in the NFL.
With free agency looming just two days away, the lions have already inked a deal with Danny Amendola and are reportedly the landing spot for Anthony Barr, both filling positions of need on this roster. The team is also linked to Trey Flowers of the New England Patriots. While all three of these players fill a need on the roster, each of the five players I mentioned above would still be a nice addition with the No. 8 pick. We will have to wait and see what the game plan is in free agency before we can make any harder conclusions related to the draft.
The pick is in: With the number 8 pick of the 2019 NFL Draft the Detroit Lions select……